We’ve been tidying up!
I’m told that we are ahead of the game this year, which means that extra time has been made available for some good old fashioned spring cleaning. Those of you who pick up shares on the farm will see what I mean when you stop by in just two short weeks to pick up your first share of the season. Woop woop!
Michael and Erin shaped up your usual farm share pick up room, so give them a thumbs up if you see them walking around as you’re driving up and down the driveway to collect your goodies.
By the way, since we’re talking about collecting goodies: If you are still considering whether or not you would like a farm share this season, the CSA is filling up quickly (I promise this is not a gimmick), so now might be the time to make some local produce a part of your weekly routine.
This week we were grateful for a little time to organize all of the belongings that have accrued over the years in a space we call “The Packshed.” Each and every shelf has been cleared, wiped down, and better purposed than it was before. We rummaged through boxes and discarded our findings into boxes better suited, cultivating piles for donations, yard sales and...trash. Woop woop!
It’s called spring cleaning, folks - you know what I’m getting at. If you haven’t decluttered your home yet this year, do it! The farm is cultivating better habits, and you should too! Seriously, you don’t want to miss out on that post deep-cleaning glow.
Speaking of cultivating, at Hawkins Family Farm we are cultivating your veggies!
Your dedicated farm hands are tackling weed growth through a process known as “cultivation.” Cultivating typically refers to a method of turning soil to prepare it for plant growth. However, Hawkins practices no-till farming, which means that cultivating looks a little more like a process of making the soil a little more friendly toward the plants you intend to grow. This usually takes the form of preventing weeds from taking up too much space.
There are all sorts of ways that this can look! By hand, there is a lot of pulling and flinging, usually assisted by our trusty hive tools (handy for home gardening). Afternoons might be spent setting up tarps to cover beds in order to thwart any unwanted growth.
Tools such as The Stirrup Hoe, The Zipper, The Wheel Hoe and, Erin’s personal favorite, The Collinear Hoe can assist in the hacking and snipping of weeds (see pic for demonstration). All of this is done to make sure that your vegetables can grow safely and soundly. Woop woop!
This cultivating thing happens a lot. Know why? Well, we’re all about healthy soil, and healthy soil is good for all sorts of growth. We cultivated the carrots on Tuesday, for example, and by Thursday, the carrots were in need of another touch up. Weeds have fun growing in our happy dirt.
And you won’t catch us spraying any hazardous chemicals anywhere on the farm. We take our time to work around each plant, row by row, bed by bed. We’re out here because we want to feed you strong healthy plants that are good for you through and through.
So we pull and fling and snip and hack each week, because that’s what it takes to cultivate healthy growing communities, and we’re here for it.
-Alex
